Which to use
“limão” and “lírio” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,316
- “limão” frequency rank
- #24,381
- “lírio” frequency rank
- 30697
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | limão | lírio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fruto do limoeiro, de forma ovoide, cítrico de cor verde-amarela e de sabor ácido | nome vulgar de algumas plantas bolbosas ou rizomatosas cultivadas com fins ornamentais |
Where the eye mixes limão and lírio
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. limão and lírio follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses limão with lírio
A purely visual mix-up. limão (/li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/) and lírio (/ˈłirju/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
limão is recorded at frequency rank #6,316, classified as anoun, pronounced /li.ˈmɐ̃w̃/. lírio is at rank #24,381, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈłirju/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 30697, this pair ranks #37,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of limão vs lírio
Shared letters: ilo. Private to "limão": mã. Private to "lírio": rí.
"limão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "lírio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "limão" for "lírio" ever safe?
Frequency check: "limão" vs "lírio" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "limão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lírio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #37,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "limão" and "lírio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lírio vs lirismo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #37,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.